Skirt holding bracket



y 15, 3 A. R. SCHAUER 2,843,196

SKIRT HOLDING BRACKET Filed May 51, 1956 IN V EN TOR. 6 24:: v 50/40::

A True/vs V5 United States Patent SKIRT HOLDlNG BRACKET Arlene Ruth Schauer, Milwaukee, Wis.

Application May 31, 1956, Serial No. 588,368

3 Claims. (Cl. 155-188) This invention relates to a skirt holding bracket.

The bracket of the present invention is particularly intended for attachment to the side margin of the seat of a chair that lacks arms, such as a secretarial chair. The bracket is so positioned that excess material in a voluminous skirt of the person seated in the chair is gathered in the bracket and held thereby out of contact with the floor and away from engagement between the floor and the roller wheels with which such chairs are frequently provided.

The device of the present invention is particularly useful in connection with conventional stenographic chairs which do not have arms or the like at the side of the chair seat to laterally confine the skirt of the wearer. If a stenographer wearing a voluminous skirt sits in a conventional stenographic chair lacking arms, etc., the skirt will ordinarily drape over the side margins of the seat, contact the floor and become soiled. Moreover, when the chair is moved on its roller wheels, these may roll over portions of the skirt, grinding dirt into the skirt material and making cleaning thereof difiicult.

In the device of the present invention, however, the skirt is gathered in folds at the side margin of the chair and is held out of contact with the floor and away from the chair wheels.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a view in perspective of one embodiment of a bracket embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a modified embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view showing brackets according to my invention attached to a chair seat and showing how the brackets gather the folds of a skirt at the sides of the chair seat.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary side elevation of a bracket according to my invention attached to a chair seat and illustrating its manner of use.

As shown in Fig. 4 a conventional stenographic chair may comprise a pedestal which supports the chair seat 11 and a back 12. The pedestal 10 is conventionally provided with a swiveled support base 13 having roller wheels or casters 14. As illustrated, and as is conventional with stenographic chairs, the seat 11 lacks side arms. Accordingly, excess material in a voluminous skirt, indicated at dotted lines at 15 in Fig. 4, tends to hang over the side margins of the seat 11 and contact the floor 9 Where it is subject to becoming soiled and to being rolled upon by the wheels 14.

According to my invention I attach to the side margin of the seat 11 a skirt holding bracket indicated generally by reference character 16. In the embodiment of Fig. 1, the bracket comprises a horizontal strap portion 17 which extends laterally beyond the margin of the chair seat 11 and is provided at its outermost end with a reice versely curved hook 18 within which the folds of the skirt are gathered as shown in Figs. 3 and 4. Horizontal strap portion 17 of the bracket is desirably at the level of the top surface of the seat 11. Accordingly, the skirt is held away from contact with the floor and out of range of the Wheels 14.

The device of the embodiment of Fig. 1 is attached to the chair seat 11 by means of a C-clamp fitting including adjustable screw 19 which is threaded into the projection 22 of the transverse bracket arm member 23. Screw 19 has a knurled adjusting nut 24 and a pressure pad 25. Advance of the screw 19 clamps the seat 11 between the inner extension 26 of strap 17 and pressure pad 25. Arm 23 serves as a shoulder which abuts the edge of the seat to define the preferred mounted positions of the bracket with respect to the seat margin. The spacing between pad 25 and arm 26 is widely adjustable and the bracket 16 may easily be applied to most chair seats, regardless of thickness or configuration. The pad 25 and the undersurface of the strap extension 26 at 30 are desirably provided with an anti-skid surface such as rubber, felt, etc, to retain the bracket on the seat against slippage.

In the modification shown in Fig. 2 the horizontal strap portion 17 is provided with a shoulder at 27 and an offset inward extension at 28 which is provided with holes 29 through which screws may pass to'perrnanently fasten the bracket to the underside of a chair seat. The shoulder 27 may engage the edge of the chair seat to define the mounted position of the bracket.

Broadly, the specific shape and dimension of the bracket may be varied without departing from the spirit of my invention. While I prefer the specific strap type brackets herein illustrated, it is clear that the brackets could be made of wire, etc.

I claim:

1. The combination with an armless chair having a seat, of a skirt holding bracket attachment for said chair, said attachment having an anchorage portion adapted to be attached to the chair and an upstanding skirt gathering portion, and means fastening the said anchorage portion of the bracket to the chair to dispose said, upstanding portion in a position to gather a skirt and hold it out of contact with the floor.

2. An attachment for gathering a skirt at the side margins of a seat of a chair lacking arms to hold said skirt away from contact with the floor, said attachment comprising a bracket otherwise free of connection to the chair and comprising an anchorage portion and a skirt gathering portion, and means for attaching the anchorage portion of the bracket to the chair seat margin at substantially the level of said seat to dispose the skirt gathering portion of the bracket in position to gather said skirt in folds within said bracket.

3. The device of claim 2 in which said bracket further comprises a substantially horizontal portion extending laterally from the seat margin, said skirt gathering portion of the bracket comprising an upright portion at the end of said horizontal portion for laterally confining the skirt.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 841,550 Leonard Ian. 15, 1907 1,266,367 Wilson May 14, 1918 1,717,106 Holt June 11, 1929 2,096,687 Roberts Oct. 19, 1937 2,343,739 Bernstein Mar. 7, 1944 

